In 2009, when Walker Talk visited Anderson Lawn Care in Wyanet, Illinois, owner, Ralph Anderson, was 76 years old, and his four Walker Mowers and five employees maintained 75 accounts. Anderson turns 85 this year and slowing down is not part of his DNA. His five employees and four Walker Mowers maintain at least 60 accounts, divided nearly in half between residential and commercial/institutional accounts.
Owner of Anderson Lawn Care, Ralph Anderson, pictured with wife, Marcella, turns 85 this year and slowing down is not part of his DNA.
“I’m working harder than ever,” said Anderson, who served on the front line in Korea in 1952. “I’m busy as commander of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and right now I’m trying to organize a memorial service. There’s not any time left over to feel bad.”
Anderson and wife, Marcella, remark about how much rain the area experienced this spring, but they’re used to that, sort of. “It makes work a little more challenging than it should be,” said Anderson. His two crews mow from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays and use Saturdays as a makeup day. They are going to be mowing this upcoming Saturday for sure.
“I still have the original Walker Mower I purchased in 1995,” he added. “It was banged up after being rolled from a trailer, but I use it for applying lawn seed.” In addition to four Walker Mowers, the crews operate a couple of Exmarks to mow some large farm plots, including an area wind farm.
The word retirement doesn’t hold much attraction for an individual who, after farming for 15 years, became an Amway direct distributor, purchased a lumber yard, and turned it into a mini mall with a restaurant, barbershop, video store, and ice cream parlor, and in the early 1990s, started mowing lawns.
“So many of my customers are longtime friends, and I just can’t imagine selling my business and no longer being the one to maintain their properties,” he emphasized. “It adds up to a rewarding lifestyle and journey in life.”
Read the original story, Age is no barrier for this mowing contractor
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